Eshwarappa trying to float an alternative to Ahinda

Move being seen as social engineering strategy ahead of Karnataka Assembly polls.

BJP leader K.S. Eshwarappa.

With just two years left for the Assembly elections, social engineering strategy appears to be gaining focus again in the State, with a section of leaders from the principal Opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party, trying to woo the backward classes.

In a strategic move, these leaders are now supporting the efforts to launch Sangolli Rayanna Brigade, which is a move to not just organise backward classes in the name of the legendary freedom fighter, but also woo them from the Congress-backed Ahinda (Kannada acronym for the minorities, backward classes and Dalits) which is spearheaded by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa, who hails from the backward Kuruba community, is at the forefront of the efforts to form the brigade. While technically, the BJP has nothing to do with such a brigade, leaders close to Mr. Eshwarappa maintain that the proposed group is bound to help the party as the backward classes form a sizeable chunk of the State’s population.

While a preliminary meeting on the nature of the proposed brigade was held on Monday, the leaders who are trying to shape its contours are keen to launch it in a big manner in central or northern part of the State.

Political circles are curious about the proposed brigade, especially with a section of the media interpreting the move as the possible one-upmanship between Mr. Eshwarappa and party State president B.S. Yeddyurappa who is the organisation’s rallying point for consolidation of Lingayat vote bank. In fact, Lingayat consolidation was one of the key strategies for the party when it came to power for the first time in the State in 2008.

However, sources close to Mr. Eshwarappa insisted that it was a strategic effort to woo backward classes from the Ahinda fold ahead of the next Assembly elections.